Their recent action follows on the heels of a December 2016 agreement in principle to follow the Minamata Convention protocols they had previously supported.
The European Parliament had to come to agreement with the European Council. The European Council is legally only an advisory body, but it is made up of the heads of state from each member state. In practice, the parliament doesn’t want to pass legislation unless it can get the support of the Council. So the December agreement was vital to the passage of this partial ban.
The ban is designed to protect those most vulnerable from the effects of mercury amalgam fillings. The ban says that the fillings can’t be used in:
- Children 15 and under
- Pregnant women
- Nursing mothers
The goal is not only to protect these individuals, but to significantly reduce the use of metal amalgam fillings in the EU.
But the law doesn’t stop there. It also lays out the next steps for reducing and completely eliminating the use of metal amalgam fillings. By 2020 the European Commission is supposed to come up with a plan to completely phase out metal amalgam by 2030.
This won’t be too hard for the EU. One member state–Sweden–has a metal amalgam phase out in practice. And several other member states have restrictions on the use of amalgam, including: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain.
A US Ban Is Not Forthcoming
In the US, there has been little movement on trying to stop the use of metal amalgam fillings. Technically, the US is a signatory on the Minamata Convention, but considering that the new EPA has even stopped action on the prior requirement for water separators, it seems unlikely that we will work to reduce our reliance on metal amalgam fillings any time soon. The FDA did propose a partial amalgam ban at one point, but was denied.
If you want to reduce the impact of metal amalgam fillings on your health and the environment, you have to take action yourself.
Metal amalgam fillings don’t just increase toxic mercury in your system, they are unattractive and incompatible with your teeth. If you are looking to upgrade metal amalgam fillings in Savannah, GA, please call (912) 234-8282 today for an appointment with a cosmetic dentist at Beyond Exceptional Dentistry.
